The state has found staffing deficiencies in emergency and critical care units at Kaiser Permanente hospitals in Richmond and Oakland as part of its investigation into the deaths of three patients, Kaiser officials said yesterday.

Kaiser's chairman and chief operating officer, Dr. David Lawrence, called a press conference to announce changes the hospital is already making in advance of a final report from the state Department of Health Services.

One patient, 39-year-old Willa Hives of Berkeley, drove herself to Kaiser's Richmond hospital on February 15 after suffering chest pains. She died in an ambulance en route to Summit Medical Center in Oakland. Two other patients also died while waiting for transfers.

The California Nurses Association, which is in the midst of a labor dispute with Kaiser, complained to authorities that the health maintenance organization is delivering inadequate care.

Kaiser said yesterday it and the state's findings were separate from the investigation into the patient deaths, which has not been completed.

"Based on preliminary findings, we and the Department of Health survey team have arrived at the conclusion that we do not meet all of the (federal) requirements," Lawrence said. "The deficiencies include issues such as inadequate documentation of medical records, a lack of standardized and documented procedures and questions about our nursing services and staffing in emergency and critical care areas."

Among the solutions is a new agreement with Brookside Hospital in Richmond to take critical care patients from Kaiser's Richmond hospital. Although that does nothing to increase the number of critical care beds in the East Bay, Lawrence insisted it would improve care.

Phil Madvig, associate director of the Permanente Medical Group, said the problem is that patients have to wait too long for critical care beds. He said the new agreement would ease the problem because Brookside will provide enough staff to accommodate the one-to-three Kaiser patients a day that need such care.

Meanwhile, the nurses association said yesterday that it plans a one-day walkout on April 16 at all of Kaiser's 45 northern California clinics and hospitals. Contract talks between CNA and Kaiser have been stalled since January.